Stakeholders: NAMA’s Inadequate, Inexperienced Technical Personnel May Threaten Safety in Nigeria’s Airspace

Chinedu Eze

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) is facing serious challenge manning its installations, control towers and radar facilities because most of its technical workers have travelled out of the country, THISDAY has learnt.

Informed sources among aviation industry stakeholders told THISDAY that most of the technical personnel have left the country for greener pastures in the endless japa syndrome adding that the existing ones lack the requisite experience, while the older ones are at the verge of retirement.

It was learnt that the departments mostly hit are engineering and air traffic control and stakeholders have expressed the fears that if urgent action is not taken, paucity of personnel will jeopardize safety in the management of the nation’s airspace.

It was learnt learnt that the airports adversely affected by paucity of personnel are the busiest airport in the country, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Port Harcourt and other airports located in the southern part of the country because young personnel recruited recently have refused to work at the airports.

An insider told THISDAY on Wednesday that according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulation, engineers who man surveillance, navigational and communication equipment, ought to work three shifts in a day but now due to dearth of personnel, one set of personnel operate for 24 hours.

Not only that this is contrary to regulation but it has its consequences as it leads to exhaustion, fatigue and poor decision making.

The international standard practice stipulates that the equipment should be manned by three persons at any time but now only one person mans the system at a time because the agency has lost many of its staff to jobs overseas.

“We are facing acute problem about inadequate staff right now and I fear that if action is not taken to recruit and train competent staff, we won’t have people that will efficiently manage the system in the near future and this will be a threat to flight operation in Nigeria. For example, two people left in my department and since then they have not been replaced. The existing staff members are now making up for the vacant positions. That is energy sapping and could lead to fatigue, lack of concentration and lack of coordination. You won’t be able to take the right decision,” the official said.

It was learnt that Air Traffic Controllers are also facing the same problem about paucity of personnel.

The President of Nigeria Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), Abayomi Agoro, confirmed to THISDAY that many of his colleagues have left the service and travelled overseas and this is grossly affecting their work.

“We have quite a number of colleagues who have left, claiming to be going on study leave and 50 to 70 per cent of the young ones have left or about to leave. This, I believe, is prompted by the socio-economic situation currently ravaging the country.  So we have few people who are working. I feel that the system should put measures in place on how to retain controllers. Nothing has improved in the remuneration of Air Traffic Controllers in the last five years,” he said.

THISDAY investigation revealed that the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, recruited young Nigerians but largely from some northern states who refused to come down to the south to work. So, while there is scarcity of personnel at Lagos, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Calabar and other airports in the country, about 400 of would-be engineers and Air Traffic Controllers are at Katsina, Kebbi, Kano airports, where their services are not largely needed.

An air traffic controller instructor at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, disclosed to THISDAY that many of those recruited before the end of the Buhari administration did not have the requisite entry behaviour for training; so, they are finding it difficult to learn.

“English language is the accepted language in aviation. As air traffic controller, you must speak clear English that will be understood by the pilot, but whereby you cannot understand or speak the language, it becomes a problem. That is why we are finding problem with replacing those who are leaving. They chose to stay at the airports in the northern part of the country that receive about one flight a day. Kano is a busy airport and there are some experienced engineers and controllers there who can manage things, but Lagos, Port Harcourt and other airports are literally empty,” the instructor said.

Agoro also explained that Air Traffic Department has over 120 staff members who were recruited by former Minister of Aviation who are in the payroll of NAMA but they are not controllers because they have not been trained and certified, stressing that they must be trained and effectively pass their required professional exams before the agency will need their service.

“They are not yet Controllers because of their inability to learn. Some people brought their cronies and did not follow due process in their recruitment. They circumvented the process in recruiting them. They are now staff, drawing salary but they cannot do the job. Before you become a Controller you must be trained and certified in accordance to international regulation because the job is a sensitive one, since any gap or hiccup can lead to tragedy. We don’t want that to happen,” the NATCA President said.

At the ATC-Pilots Forum held in Lagos on Wednesday, the NATCA President spoke about the paucity of technical personnel in NAMA and recommended that government should evaluate the agency personnel to know the quality of personnel in the technical areas.

“There is dearth of requisite technical manpower and inadequate human capital development in NAMA. The type of manpower that is being recruited into NAMA is completely at variance with the real needs of the agency. A holistic evaluation of the staff strength of the agency on a department by department or directorate by directorate basis is necessary in line with the core mandate of the Agency as well as the standard template accepted by the Civil Air Navigation Service,” Agoro said.

Industry observers that spoke to THISDAY, called on government to carry out urgent review of the recruitment process and stop those not qualified to man the sensitive area of airspace management, whether as engineers or air traffic controllers.